Ventilator

Photo credit here.

His family hangs

On

Every

Breath

Refraining from taking

Too much in.

 

Oxygen, Nitrogen

Carbon dioxide

Molecules heavy with meaning;

Molecules worth their weight 

In gold.

 

I hold the weight

In my gut

A never-ending

Sucker punch-

Inhalation halted

The life force 

Expelled

 

Can I not give mine

To him?

Brain burning-

Mechanical breaths 

A metronome - 

Counting time

He may not have.

 

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